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on Business, Economic and Financial History |
|
Issue of 2010‒06‒18
twenty-six papers chosen by |
| By: | Tommy E. Murphy |
| Abstract: | This paper brings the French case into the current debate on Malthusian dynamics in early modern times. In particular, it studies the long-term evolution of aggregate variables, showing that nineteenth century France was hardly a Malthusian world in a strict sense. Homeostasis was maintained throughout the century and there were signs of a strong positive check, but if there was some sort of preventive check, this was not ‘written in stone’. The results of both cointegrated VAR and short-run analysis grant a reading where departure from the Malthusian world (if there ever was one) is due to a secular change in the relationship between income, marriages, and births. If this interpretation is correct, the fertility decline was instrumental in the sustained decline in mortalit1y during the century. |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:igi:igierp:363&r=his |
| By: | Fenske, James |
| Abstract: | In this review, I discuss the role of African institutions in general and pre-colonial institutions in particular in explaining present-day African poverty. Six of the most often cited explanations of African poverty -- geography, ethnolinguistic fractionalization, the slave trades, colonial rule, underdevelopment, and failed aid -- operate largely through institutions. Bad institutions themselves directly affect modern growth. Pre-colonial institutions also matter for present-day outcomes. I look at four broad institutional types (land tenure, slavery, polygyny and states), outline influential theories that explain why they took the shapes they did before colonial rule, and why they matter to Africa today. |
| Keywords: | Africa; institutions; history; development |
| JEL: | N57 O10 |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:23120&r=his |
| By: | Robert H. Bates; Diego Pizano; Mauricio Carrizosa; Darrell Hueth |
| Abstract: | In the 1970’s there was a serious crisis in the world economy and a deep dissatisfaction with the state of economic theory. Between 1976 and 1979 Colombian economist Diego Pizano conducted a series of structured dialogues with some of the greatest economists of the second half of the 20th century, with the aim of discussing this situation. His project was supported from the outset by Professor Paul A. Samuelson from MIT. The result was a book on contemporary economic thought, which was published in spanish by the Fondo de Cultura Económica of México in 1980. In 2009 the English version of this book was published in New York (Jorge Pinto books). In December 18th, 2009, The Brookings Institution of Washington DC decided to organize the launch of this book, because they thought it helps to understand the current crisis and is useful in rethinking economic theories and policies. This document brings together the presentations made on that occasion. |
| Date: | 2010–05–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000089:007092&r=his |
| By: | Donze, Pierre-Yves |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on the involvement of Siemens on the market for radiology equipment in Japan between 1900 and 1960 from a business history perspective. It explores why the German multinational was unable to keep its dominant position on the Japanese market in the interwar years, despite its technological competitiveness. In particular, it examines the strategic choices made by the firm (export, licensing, direct investment) in relation to the changing economic and technological environment, highlighting the importance, for foreign multinationals, of working together with national trading firms involved in the distribution of drugs and products for doctors, as the Japanese medical market was already well structured when the country opened up to the West. Four phases have been identified. At first, before World War I, German manufacturers of X-ray machines, especially Siemens, enjoyed a virtual monopoly in Japan and favored an export strategy. The political and technological shifts that occurred during the war (interruption of trade with Germany, development of the Coolidge X-ray tube by General Electric) led to a more competitive market in Japan. Siemens reorganized its involvement in this business via a contract signed with a domestic medical goods trade company, Goto Fuundo (1926). Yet this proved insufficient to overcome the competition, and Siemens finally decided to relocate some of its production facilities for X-ray machines in Japan by entering into a joint venture with Goto (1932). Relations between Siemens and Goto were severed by the war, and Goto tried until the 1950s to go it alone in this field but failed due to a lack of organizational capability. As for Siemens, it reverted to its export strategy approach, re-entering the market in the 1950s. |
| Keywords: | Siemens; Goto Fuundo; X-ray machines; medical market |
| JEL: | N85 F23 |
| Date: | 2010–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:23190&r=his |
| By: | Timothy Guinnane (Economics Department, Yale University); Susana Martinez-Rodriguez (Department of Economics, University of Murcia, Spain) |
| Abstract: | Studies of Spanish cooperatives date their spread from the Law on Agrarian Syndicates of 1906. But the first legislative appearance of cooperatives is an 1869 measure that permitted general incorporation for lending companies. The 1931 general law on cooperatives, which was the first act permitting the formation of cooperatives in any activity, reflects the gradual disappearance of the cooperative’s “business” characteristics. In this paper we trace the Spanish cooperative’s legal roots in business law and its connections to broader questions of the freedom of association, the formation of joint-stock enterprises, and the liability of investors in business and cooperative entities. Our account underscores the similarities of the organizational problems approach by cooperatives and business firms, while at the same time respecting the distinctive purposes cooperatives served. |
| Keywords: | cooperative, general incorporation, business enterprise, freedom of association, freedom of contract |
| JEL: | N43 N23 K20 |
| Date: | 2010–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egc:wpaper:987&r=his |
| By: | Kalina Dimitrova |
| Abstract: | There are two aspects through which an economic policy can influence the economic situation – monetary and fiscal. Monetary and fiscal policies have different and sometimes controversial goals to achieve by means of specific instruments. While the mission of central banks is generally price stability, governments usually set their goals in the realm of economic growth and employment. Fiscal institutions , however, often use inflation in order to derive revenues (seigniorage) and finance budget deficits. Hence, inflation is viewed as a public finance phenomenon (Barro, 1979; Mankiw, 1987; Grilli, 1989). The purpose of this paper is to present a historical perspective on the behaviour of the monetary and fiscal policies pursued in Bulgaria from 1879, when the Bulgarian National Bank was established (soon after the liberation from the Ottoman Empire). Furthermore, historical time series of monetary and fiscal indicators give us the chance to study the link between government budget problems, fluctuations of monetary variables and inflation dynamics in different monetary episodes. |
| Keywords: | monetary and fiscal policy, inflation, exchange rate. |
| JEL: | E31 E63 |
| Date: | 2010–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:icr:wpicer:13-2010&r=his |
| By: | Olav Bjerkholt (University of Oslo); Duo Qin (Queen Mary, University of London) |
| Abstract: | This paper is prepared for the forthcoming publication of Frisch's 1930 Yale lecture notes, <i>A Dynamic Approach to Economic Theory: The Yale Lectures of Ragnar Frisch</i> (details at: http://www.routledgeeconomics.com/books/A-Dynamic-Approach-to-Economic-Theory-isbn9780415564090). As the lecture series was given just as the Econometric Society was founded in 1930. We provide as background, a blow-by-blow story of how the Econometric Society got founded with emphasis on Frisch's role. We then outline how the Yale lecture notes came into being, closely connected to Frisch's econometric work at the time. We comment upon the lectures, relating them to Frisch's later works and, more important, to subsequent developments in economics and econometrics. |
| Keywords: | History of econometrics |
| JEL: | B23 |
| Date: | 2010–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qmw:qmwecw:wp665&r=his |
| By: | Bertrand BLANCHETON (GREThA UMR CNRS 5113); Jérome SCARABELLO |
| Abstract: | This contribution tries to consider italian migration in France in its wholeness under the historical, economic and social angles with to be thread idea that this immigration constituted between 1870s and the First World war a mailman of flexibilisation of the labour market in some french regions among the most active economically (Mediterranean midday, the region of Lyons, Parisian basin) and that it contributed significantly in the economic activity of period. Between 1876 and 1914, the flux of italian migrants towards France can be estimated between 1,6 and 1,7 millions in a country where complete labour crosses 17,8 millions in 1870 and 19,37 millions in 1913. Seasonal Italian give a hand of comparatively tame and cheap work in agriculture, and to the firms of the building and public works. Very present also in the areas of metallurgy, textile industry, chemistry or car’s sector, the italian migrants contribute in the industrial development of several French regions (Mediterranean midday, region of Lyons, Paris region, then Lorraine and North of France). Italians are in the majority men in full force of age, they are mobile and occupy the hardest jobs. Ready to accept lesser remunerations and harder conditions of job and life, they are perceptible as dangerous rivals by the French wage earners. |
| Keywords: | immigration ; labor market |
| JEL: | N34 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:grt:wpegrt:2010-13&r=his |
| By: | Fenske, James |
| Abstract: | I show how abundant land and scarce labor shaped African institutions before colonial rule. I present a model in which exogenous land quality and endogenously evolving population determine the existence of land rights, slavery, and polygyny. I use cross-sectional data on pre-colonial African societies to demonstrate that, as in the model, the existence of land rights, slavery, and polygyny occurred where land was most suitable for agriculture, and where population density was greatest. These results are robust to alternative measures of institutions and historical population, and better fit the data than alternative theories of slavery. |
| Keywords: | Land tenure; slavery; polygyny; states; Africa |
| JEL: | N57 O10 |
| Date: | 2010–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:23222&r=his |
| By: | Marcelo de Paiva Abreu (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro); Felipe Tamega Fernandes (Harvard Business School, Entrepreneurial Management Unit) |
| Abstract: | This paper surveys the formation and development of insurance business in Brazil. It describes its origins, from the colonial times and imperial era to recent events. Particular attention is given to regulatory changes, showing how they evolved in response to macroeconomic shocks that affected the Brazilian economy during this period. |
| Keywords: | Insurance, Brazil, Regulation |
| JEL: | G22 G38 L50 N46 |
| Date: | 2010–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hbs:wpaper:10-109&r=his |
| By: | Onkar , Shivraj Swami; N. , Senthil Kumar; Palash , Baruah |
| Abstract: | This study analyse the trends in deposits and credit deployments of Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) in the State of Karnataka during the post reform period (March 1992- March 2008). Basic data for this study were collected from the various issues of Basic Statistical Returns of Scheduled Commercial Banks in India published by Reserve Bank of India. Deposits, advances (outstanding) and credit-deposit ratios were three important parameters used to assess the performance of RRBs. Kendall’s coefficient of concordance (W) was computed to study whether there were any changes in the pattern of the flow of sectoral credit lending by the RRBs over the study period. In the area of deposit mobilisation and credit disbursements, the RRBs had made a notable progress during the post reform period. C-D ratios of RRBs were fluctuating throughout the study period. It was found that RRBs continued to focus on agriculture credit disbursements in the Sate of Karnataka. At the same time, RRBs had favored credit to personal loans in place of rural artisan industries credit and “other small scale industries” credit. |
| Keywords: | Regional Rural Banks;trends; deposits and credit deployments; Karnataka; India |
| JEL: | O18 H81 R51 Q14 G21 |
| Date: | 2010–02–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:23289&r=his |
| By: | Tisdell, Clem |
| Abstract: | Outlines how Clem Tisdell came to discover tourism economics and charts the basic route that he followed in developing that interest. This article is developed by first considering his early years (1939 to 1960), that is the period prior to his commencement of postgraduate studies at the Australian National University, then his postgraduate studies at the Australian National University (1961-1963), and his lecturing appointment at this university in the period 1964-1972. It was towards the end of this period that his research interests started to change significantly and provided a springboard for his later focus on tourism economics and the environment. It was during his appointment as Professor of Economics at the University of Newcastle (1972-1989) that his interest in tourism economics âtook-offâ and gathered momentum thanks initially to a research grant from the ASEAN-Australian Joint Research Project in 1982. His interest in this subject continued strongly after he joined The University of Queensland in 1989 and benefited from several research grants, including some from the CRC for Sustainable Tourism. He was appointed Professor Emeritus in this university in 2005 and continues to pursue his interest in tourism economics. Tisdell explains why he has found this interest to be exciting and of value. |
| Keywords: | China, ecological economics, economic development, environmental economics, India, nature-based tourism, sustainable tourism, tourism economics, wildlife conservation., Environmental Economics and Policy, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, F18, L83, O10, Q5, |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uqseet:90631&r=his |
| By: | Adam S. Posen (Peterson Institute for International Economics) |
| Abstract: | Japan’s Great Recession was the result of a series of macroeconomic and financial policy mistakes. Thus, it was largely avoidable once the initial shock from the bubble bursting had passed. The aberration in Japan’s recession was not the behaviour of growth, which is best seen as a series of recoveries aborted by policy errors. Rather, the surprise was the persistent steadiness of limited deflation, even after recovery took place. This is a more fundamental challenge to our basic macroeconomic understanding than is commonly recognized. The UK and US economies are at low risk of having recurrent recessions through macroeconomic policy mistakes—but deflation itself cannot be ruled out. The United Kingdom worryingly combines a couple of financial parallels to Japan with far less room for fiscal action to compensate for them than Japan had. Also, Japan did not face poor prospects for external demand and the need to reallocate productive resources across export sectors during its Great Recession. Many economies do now face this challenge simultaneously, which may limit the pace of, and their share in, the global recovery. |
| Keywords: | Japan, deflation, fiscal stimulus, quantitative easing |
| JEL: | E31 E62 E63 O53 |
| Date: | 2010–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iie:wpaper:wp10-7&r=his |
| By: | Yamauchi, Yuki; Endo, Takahiro |
| Abstract: | In contrast to previous research, this paper illustrates a process in which institutional entrepreneurs play less significant roles in creating a new practice. We drew on a historical case study that deals with the emergence of a new practice of emphasizing fashionable design of a type of clothing known as meisen. In the historical case study, multiple actors played distinctive and essential roles, which, as a whole, led to the creation of a new practice. |
| Date: | 2010–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:hjbswp:115&r=his |
| By: | Miguel Urrutia; Mauricio Ruíz |
| Abstract: | A lo largo de la historia económica moderna, los salarios reales han sido un buen indicador del nivel de vida material de la clase trabajadora. Este documento presenta series de salarios reales para diferentes sectores y épocas en Colombia. Apoyándonos en datos compilados por varios autores, nuestra principal conclusión es que a lo largo de los últimos 170 años, los salarios reales en Colombia han aumentado menos que el crecimiento de PIB per capita. Esto puede ser una causa parcial de la mala distribución del ingreso en la actualidad en Colombia. |
| Date: | 2010–04–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000089:007090&r=his |
| By: | S. Michalopoulos; A. Naghavi; G. Prarolo |
| Abstract: | This research examines the economic origins of Islam and uncovers two empirical regularities. First, Muslim countries, virtual countries and ethnic groups, exhibit highly unequal regional agricultural endowments. Second, Muslim adherence is systematically larger along the pre-Islamic trade routes in the Old World. The theory argues that this particular type of geography (i) determined the economic aspects of the religious doctrine upon which Islam was formed, and (ii) shaped its subsequent economic performance. It suggests that the unequal distribution of land endowments conferred differential gains from trade across regions, fostering predatory behavior from the poorly endowed ones. In such an environment it was mutually bene.cial to institute a system of income redistribution. However, a higher propensity to save by the rich would exacerbate wealth inequality rendering redistribution unsustainable, leading to the demise of the Islamic unity. Consequently, income inequality had to remain within limits for Islam to persist. This was instituted via restrictions on physical capital accumulation. Such rules rendered the investments on public goods, through religious endowments, increasingly attractive. As a result, capital accumulation remained low and wealth inequality bounded. Geography and trade shaped the set of economically relevant religious principles of Islam affecting its economic trajectory in the preindustrial world. |
| JEL: | O10 O13 O16 O17 O18 F10 Z12 |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bol:bodewp:700&r=his |
| By: | Tisdell, Clem |
| Abstract: | This article adopts the point of view that Chinaâs development policies can only be appreciated if they are considered by applying perspectives from institutional economics. This requires attention to be given to the historical, political and cultural context in which its economic development has occurred. Therefore, this article gives attention to the political events leading up to Chinaâs decision in 1978 to begin its economic reforms and the way in which Deng Xiaoping crafted its new development path. It also discusses the subsequent extension of Dengâs development policies by more recent leaders of the Chinese Communist Party. Indicators of Chinaâs economic progress (including its increasing economic openness) since 1978 are given, and its emerging economic issues and concerns are highlighted. The concept of âmarket socialism with Chinese characteristicsâ is analysed and consideration is given to the economic challenges now facing China as a result of the global economic recession and the way it is responding to these challenges. In conclusion, the article touches on Chinaâs economic and political future and its growing international status. |
| Keywords: | China, developmental states, economic development, economic reforms, institutional economics, market socialism, International Development, Political Economy, P00, P20, P26, P27, P30, O10, O20., |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uqseet:90624&r=his |
| By: | Antonio G. CALAFATI (Universita' Politecnica delle Marche, Dipartimento di Economia); Paolo VENERI (Universita' Politecnica delle Marche, Dipartimento di Economia) |
| Abstract: | The processes of spatial polarisation and territorial integration that have taken place in Italy since the 1950s have not been accompanied by corresponding institutional adaptations, generating the current huge discrepancy between the functional and political-administrative organisation of the territory. As argued in the paper, this institutional lock-in is rooted in a mistaken conceptualisation of territorial integration, which has focused on the identification of "travel-to-work areas", rather than on the formation of inter-municipal territorial systems which have the nature of cities de facto - larger and structurally different from the legal cities. The paper corroborates this thesis by focusing on the eight largest Italian cities de jure, identifying, on the basis of both functional and morphological features, the corresponding cities de facto. |
| Keywords: | Cities de facto, Metropolitan areas, Territorial organisation |
| JEL: | R11 R12 R23 R38 |
| Date: | 2010–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anc:wpaper:342&r=his |
| By: | Quamrul Ashraf (Williams College); Stelios Michalopoulos (Tufts University) |
| Abstract: | This research examines theoretically and empirically the origins of agriculture. The theory highlights the role of climatic sequences as a fundamental determinant of both technological sophistication and population density in a hunter-gatherer regime. It argues that foragers facing volatile environments were forced to take advantage of their productive endowments at a faster pace. Consequently, as long as climatic shocks preserved the possibility for agriculture, di¤erences in the rate at which foragers were climatically propelled to exploit their habitat determined the comparative evolution of hunter-gatherer societies towards farming. The theory is tested using both cross-country and cross-archaeological site data on the emergence of farming. Consistent with the theory, the empirical analysis demonstrates that, conditional on biogeographic endowments, climatic volatility has a non-monotonic e¤ect on the timing of the transition to agriculture. Farming was undertaken earlier in regions characterized by intermediate levels of climatic volatility, with regions subjected to either too high or too low intertemporal variability transiting later. |
| Keywords: | Hunting and Gathering, Agriculture, Neolithic Revolution, Climatic Volatility, Technological Progress, Population Density. |
| JEL: | J10 O11 O13 O33 O40 Q54 Q55 |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wil:wileco:2010-02&r=his |
| By: | Fredy Goyeneche González |
| Abstract: | El presente es un documento que pretende realizar una transversalización de la historia social de Cartagena de Indias con la intención de mostrar como esta se fue transformando de una ciudad globalizada desde sus inicios en función no solo de la diversidad étnica y cultural connatural a las diversas nacionalidades que llegaron a ella en condiciones de conquistadores y colonizadores mixturadas con las etnias aborígenes y la de los esclavos que fueron traídos para efectos de explotación económica pero que no impidió que se construyera simultáneamente una cierta identidad de cartagenidad pero que luego, producto de esa misma globalización y diferenciación excluyente de interés, ha tomado un rumbo que la fragmentasocialmente y destruye su sentido de identidad local. |
| Date: | 2010–06–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000381:007080&r=his |
| By: | M S Sriram |
| Abstract: | The paper looks at the growth and commercialization of microfinance in India. It starts out be looking at how the commercial microfinance has evolved internationally by discussing two specific examples and then moves on to examine the specifics cases of four large microfinance institutions in India. The basic argument of the paper is that most of the early microfinance in India happened through donor and philanthropic funds. These funds came in to not-for-profit organizations. However as the activities scaled up, it was imperative to move to a commercial format. The paper examines the growth imperatives and the transformation processes. The paper then proceeds to look at the implications of the transformation process and its effect on the personal enrichment of the promoters of MFI as well as the governance implications. Basically it questions the moral and ethical fabric on which some to the large microfinance institutions are built. It ends by answering a set of questions that may emanate out of this discussion.[W.P. No. 2010-03-04] |
| Keywords: | growth, commercialization, microfinance, internationally, philanthropic funds, not-for-profit organizations, imperative, commercial format, transformation process, implications, governance, institutions, emanate, discussion |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2539&r=his |
| By: | Gallardo Ramiro, M V |
| Abstract: | Different strategies adopted by corporation’s management condition its market success. If a strategy were good enough, the rest of the corporations that operate on its activity segment which have similar characteristics would try to copy it. Inditex is leading the textile sector, meanwhile Hennes and Mauritz (H&M) is not getting closer enough to Inditex in order to obtain a vantage point forehead to it. This article is a comparative analysis about the policy, the strategy and the result of them. |
| Keywords: | Inditex; Hennes and Mauritz; Dirección Estratégica; Inversión Internacional; Información Segmentada |
| JEL: | M1 |
| Date: | 2010–04–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:23154&r=his |
| By: | Martha Banbura; Domenico Giannone; Lucrezia Reichlin |
| Abstract: | Economists have imperfect knowledge of the present state of the economy and even of the recent past. Many key statistics are released with a long delay and they are subsequently revised. As a consequence, unlike weather forecasters, who know what is the weather today and only have to predict the weather tomorrow, economists have to forecast the present and even the recent past. The problem of predicting the present, the very near future and the very recent past is labelled as nowcasting and is the subject of this paper. |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eca:wpaper:2013/57648&r=his |
| By: | Dunning , John; Pitelis, Christos |
| Abstract: | We discuss issues pertaining to the political economy of “globalization”, in the context of the seminal contribution by Stephen Hymer. While Hymer’s contribution to the theory of the multinational enterprise (MNE) and foreign direct investment (FDI) is widely recognized, his contribution to the political economy of what he called “multinational corporate capital” has received less attention. In this paper we revisit some of the issues he raised, notably uneven development, global governance and central planning in the context of post-Hymer scholarly thinking and the shifting global landscape. In so doing we also speculate on the challenges and future of globalization. |
| Keywords: | Stephen Hymer; International Political Economy; Institutions; Globalization;Sustainability |
| JEL: | F23 F02 F21 |
| Date: | 2009–11–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:23184&r=his |
| By: | Marie Ferru (CRIEF - Centre de Recherche sur l'Intégration Economique et Financière - Université de Poitiers) |
| Abstract: | This paper tries to elicit elements which explain the geography of science-industry collaborations by focusing on their construction process which is rarely studied regarding the existing literature. Constraints linked to the search of resources, on the one hand, and constraints linked to the logics of contact, on the other, weigh on actors when choosing their partner and could influence the geography of collaborations. An empirical study on collaborations established between Poitiers University's laboratories and firms confirms this hypothesis. Cognitive constraints lead to the spatial dissemination of collaborations. An econometric model shed light on the impact of logics of contact and shows that whereas most of these logics enable the construction of local and non local partnerships, non professional ties favor significantly local ones. |
| Keywords: | Collaborations; geography; social networks; institutions; resources |
| Date: | 2010–10–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00461262_v1&r=his |
| By: | Andrew Mearman (Department of Economics, University of the West of England) |
| Abstract: | This paper conducts a type of meta-analysis of a sample of commentaries on heterodox economics, also drawing on biological literature and other treatments of classification. The paper contrasts what might be called a ‘classical’ category with a ‘modern’ category and then analyses treatments of HE as a category. It is argued that though HE appears to be a complex object – and that authors recognise this – HE as a category is most often classical even though modern would appear more appropriate. That this is the case may reflect choices of levels of abstraction which in turn reflect instrumental purposes of influencing the reality of Economics. While arguments for the rejection of HE as a category are too strong, current treatments of HE are perhaps not careful enough in recognising its provisional and fluid nature. The paper considers these issues in turn. |
| Keywords: | heterodox economics, taxonomy, complexity, meta-analysis |
| JEL: | B4 B5 Z13 |
| Date: | 2010–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwe:wpaper:1006&r=his |