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on Business, Economic and Financial History |
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Issue of 2015‒06‒05
24 papers chosen by |
| By: | Prados de la Escosura, Leandro |
| Abstract: | How has Latin America’s wellbeing evolved over time? How does Latin America compare to today’s developed countries (OECD, for short)? What explains their differences? These questions are addressed using an historical index of human development. A sustained improvement in wellbeing can be observed since 1870. The absolute gap between OECD and Latin America widened over time, but an incomplete catching up – largely explained by education- occurred since 1900, but faded away after 1980, as Latin America fell behind the OECD in terms of longevity. Once the first health transition was exhausted, the contribution of life expectancy to human development declined. |
| Keywords: | human development; Latin America; life expectancy; positive freedom |
| JEL: | I00 N36 O15 O54 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:10613&r=his |
| By: | Ferguson, Niall; Schaab, Andreas; Schularick, Moritz |
| Abstract: | In this paper we study the evolution of central banks’ balance sheets in 12 advanced economies since 1900. We present a new dataset assembled from a wide array of historical sources. We find that balance sheet size in most developed countries has fluctuated within rather clearly defined bands relative to output. Historically, clusters of big expansions and contractions of balance sheets have been associated with periods of geopolitical or financial crisis. This explains the co-movement between the size of central bank balance sheets and public debt levels in the past century. Relative to the size of the financial sector, moreover, central bank balance sheets had shrunk dramatically in the three decades preceding the global financial crisis. By that yardstick, their recent expansion partly marks a return to earlier levels. Some of the recent increase could therefore prove to be permanent if the financial sector maintains permanently higher liquidity ratios. |
| Keywords: | balance sheets; central banks; financial sector; monetary policy; public debt |
| JEL: | E31 E52 E58 N10 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:10635&r=his |
| By: | Bassino, Jean-Pascal; Williamson, Jeffrey G |
| Abstract: | Except for the Philippines between 1896 and 1939, Southeast Asia was never part of the century-long East Asian industrial catching up until after World War II. Before the 1950s, Southeast Asian manufacturing hardly grew at all: while commodity export processing did grow fast, import-competing manufacturing and manufacturing for local consumption did not. Singapore and Thailand started recording catching up growth rates on the western leaders only from the 1950s onwards, and Indonesia and Malaysia joined the club only after 1973. Even then, Southeast Asia did not record catching up growth rates on Japan or Taiwan until after 1973 and 1990, respectively. The only Southeast Asian country that appeared to have joined the fast industrial growth club before World War II – the Philippines -- had its industrial growth collapse after the ISI years. What explains this dismal industrial performance before the 1960s? Why did Southeast Asia become a rapid export-led manufacturing growth success story after the 1960s while it did not in Latin America, the Middle East, or South Asia? In seeking answers, we distinguish four periods: de-industrialization and commodity export growth before 1913; a modest diversification into manufacturing during WWI and the interwar years; the development of consumer goods production under import substitution policies between the 1940s and the 1960s; and finally the high speed export-led industrialization since. We show how factor endowments, demography, schooling, second-best institutions, foreign markets, and, especially, good luck mattered. |
| Keywords: | history; Manufacturing growth; Southeast Asia |
| JEL: | F14 L60 N65 O14 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:10611&r=his |
| By: | Ewout Frankema; Jeffrey Williamson; Pieter Woltjer |
| Abstract: | This is the first study to present a unified quantitative account of African commodity trade in the long 19th century from the zenith of the Atlantic slave trade (1790s) to the eve of World War II (1939). Drawing evidence from a new dataset on export and import prices, volumes, composition and net barter terms of trade for five African regions, we show that Sub-Saharan Africa experienced a terms of trade boom that was comparable to other parts of the ‘global periphery’ from the late 18th century up to the mid-1880s, with an exceptionally sharp price boom in the four decades before the Berlin conference (1845-1885). We argue that this commodity price boom changed the economic context in favor of a European scramble for Africa. We also show that the accelerated export growth after the establishment of colonial rule deepened Africa’s specialization in primary commodities, even though the terms of trade turned into a prolonged decline after 1885. |
| JEL: | F10 O40 O55 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21213&r=his |
| By: | Castañeda Dower, Paul; Ginsburgh, Victor; Weber, Shlomo |
| Abstract: | We introduce two societal polarization measures that, unlike standard approaches based on time invariant and arbitrary divisions of a society into ethnolinguistic or religious groups, take into account how a society's history can alter inter-group relations. One of our measures allows for different inter-group divisions due to different experiences in the colonial era, while the other allows these divisions to change as a result of violence throughout the conflict episode. By examining the protracted war in Sri Lanka and applying these indices to a data set describing victims of terrorist attacks by district and year, we find that, for each of our polarization indices, there is a positive effect on the number of victims from terrorist attacks. The historical underpinnings of our indices allow us to demonstrate in a quantitative and concrete way the relevance of the historical path for understanding patterns of civil conflict. |
| Keywords: | colonial legacy; conflict; linguistic disenfranchisement; polarization |
| JEL: | D74 F54 O15 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:10617&r=his |
| By: | María Florencia Aráoz; Esteban A. Nicolini |
| Abstract: | The economic performance of Argentina in the long run is quite usually divided in two periods: in the first one (1870-1914) we observe openness, low levels of public intervention and rapid growth in relative terms, while in the second (1914-1970) we observe relative economic slowdown together with inward looking policies and higher levels of public intervention. While there are many reconstructions of the evolution of main macroeconomic variables at a national aggregate level since the second half of the nineteenth century and many descriptions of the sectorial dimensions of this process, the available information about its provincial or regional dimensions is very scarce. In this paper we present an estimation of the GDPs of the twenty four provinces in Argentina in 1914 which is the first consistent and comparable estimation of this variable for any period before the 1950s. Our results confirm the standard view that most of the economic activity at the end of the period of the first globalization is located in the central area of the country and, in particular, in the province and city of Buenos Aires which seems to have been a quite important pole of economic activity; however, we also show that some peripheral areas in Patagonia, with very low population density, are quite affluent in per capita terms suggesting that resource abundance was an important factor to explain levels of income per capita. The comparison of the relative incomes per capita of the provinces in 1914 with the available data for 1953 suggest a remarkable stability and indicates that in this period there were no signs of reversal of income but rather persistence or even divergence. |
| Keywords: | regional development , inequality , Argentina , convergence , reversal |
| JEL: | E01 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cte:whrepe:wp15-05&r=his |
| By: | Hugh Rockoff |
| Abstract: | The institutional arrangements governing the creation of money in the United States have changed dramatically since the Revolution. Yet beneath the surface the story of wartime money creation has remained much the same. During wars against minor powers, the government was able to fund the war by borrowing and levying taxes. In major wars, however, there came a point when further increases in taxes could not be undertaken for administrative or political reasons, and further increases in borrowing could not be undertaken except at higher interest rates; rates that exceeded what was considered fair based on prewar norms. At those moments governments turned to the printing press. The result was substantial inflation. |
| JEL: | N10 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21221&r=his |
| By: | Jaume Ventura; Hans-Joachim Voth |
| Abstract: | Why did the country that borrowed the most industrialize first? Earlier research has viewed the explosion of debt in 18th century Britain as either detrimental, or as neutral for economic growth. In this paper, we argue instead that Britain’s borrowing boom was beneficial. The massive issuance of liquidly traded bonds allowed the nobility to switch out of low-return investments such as agricultural improvements. This switch lowered factor demand by old sectors and increased profits in new, rising ones such as textiles and iron. Because external financing contributed little to the Industrial Revolution, this boost in profits in new industries accelerated structural change, making Britain more industrial more quickly. The absence of an effective transfer of financial resources from old to new sectors also helps to explain why the Industrial Revolution led to massive social change – because the rich nobility did not lend to or invest in the revolutionizing industries, it failed to capture the high returns to capital in these sectors, leading to relative economic decline. |
| Keywords: | Crowding out, debt crises, Industrial Revolution, Ricardian equivalence, misallocation, financial repression, structural change, productivity |
| JEL: | E22 E25 E62 H56 H60 N13 N23 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zur:econwp:194&r=his |
| By: | Jaume Ventura; Hans-Joachim Voth |
| Abstract: | Why did the country that borrowed the most industrialize first? Earlier research has viewed the explosion of debt in 18th century Britain as either detrimental, or as neutral for economic growth. In this paper, we argue instead that Britain’s borrowing boom was beneficial. The massive issuance of liquidly traded bonds allowed the nobility to switch out of low-return investments such as agricultural improvements. This switch lowered factor demand by old sectors and increased profits in new, rising ones such as textiles and iron. Because external financing contributed little to the Industrial Revolution, this boost in profits in new industries accelerated structural change, making Britain more industrial more quickly. The absence of an effective transfer of financial resources from old to new sectors also helps to explain why the Industrial Revolution led to massive social change – because the rich nobility did not lend to or invest in the revolutionizing industries, it failed to capture the high returns to capital in these sectors, leading to relative economic decline. |
| Keywords: | crowding out, debt crises, Industrial Revolution, Ricardian equivalence, misallocation, financial repression, structural change, productivity. |
| JEL: | E22 E25 E62 H56 H60 N13 N23 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upf:upfgen:1483&r=his |
| By: | Peter McDonald (The Australian National University) |
| Abstract: | From the demographic perspective, the 21st century is the population ageing century. Population ageing is well underway in all Asian countries as a result of the spectacular falls in both fertility and mortality rates in the second half of the 20th century. |
| Keywords: | Demographic Trends, Asian Century, Intergenerational Policy |
| JEL: | J11 J14 J18 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eab:macroe:24833&r=his |
| By: | Andrew T. Young (West Virginia University, College of Business and Economics) |
| Abstract: | I employ a case study of the Visigoths in the fourth and fifth centuries to analyze the collective action problems faced by roving versus stationary bandits. A roving bandit provides exclusive collective goods to its members. A stationary bandit also provides exclusive goods to its members, but it also provides inclusive collective goods to out-group individuals in its domain. The inclusive goods provided to the out-group are an input to the production of the exclusive goods enjoyed by the in-group members. I describe how the transition from the former to the latter likely involves redefinition of the relevant group, its shared interest, and the type of good(s) that it provides. The Gothic retinues of the fourth century were essentially roving bandits. Having been driven across the Danube into the Roman Empire by an invasion of Huns, a group of these retinues formed the Visigothic confederacy. The Visigoths sacked Rome and were subsequently settled in Gaul, eventually becoming the stationary Visigothic Kingdom. I describe how the Visigothic elite came to recognize an encompassing interest in their domain and drew upon the human capital of the Gallo-Roman senators to provide inclusive collective goods. |
| Keywords: | collective action problems, governance institutions, state emergence, roving versus stationary bandits, Visigoths, Roman Empire, ancient economic history |
| JEL: | D72 N43 N93 P16 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wvu:wpaper:15-09&r=his |
| By: | Erich Pinzón Fuchs (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS) |
| Abstract: | Lawrence R. Klein (1920-2013) played a major role in the construction and in the further dissemination of econometrics from the 1940s. Considered as one the main developers and practitioners of macroeconometrics, Klein's influence is reflected in his application of econometric modelling “to the analysis of economic fluctuations and economic policies” for which he was awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel in 1980. The purpose of this paper is to give an account of Klein's image of econometrics focusing on his early period as an econometrician (1944-1950), and more specifically on his period as a Cowlesman (1944-1947). Independently of how short this period might appear, it contains a set of fundamental publications and events, which were decisive for Klein's conception of econometrics, and which formed Klein's unique way of doing econometrics. At least four features are worth mentioning, which characterise this uniqueness. First, Klein was the only Cowlesman who carried on the macroeconometric programme beyond the 1940s, even if the Cowles had already abandoned it. Second, his pluralistic approach in terms of economic theory allowed him not only to use the Walrasian framework appraised by the Cowles Commission and especially by T.C. Koopmans, but also the Marxian and Keynesian frameworks, enriching the process of model specification and motivating economists of different stripes to make use of the nascent econometrics. Third, Klein differentiated himself from the rigid methodology praised at Cowles; while the latter promoted the use of highly sophisticated methods of estimation, Klein was convinced that institutional reality and economic intuition would contribute more to econometrics than the sophistication of these statistical techniques. Last but not least, Klein never gave up what he thought was the political objective of econometrics: economic planning and social reform. |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-01130762&r=his |
| By: | Alexander Klein; Tim Leunig |
| Abstract: | Gibrat's Law states that the growth of towns and cities is independent of their initial size. We show that the Industrial Revolution was revolutionary enough to violate this law for 1761-1801, 1801-1891, and all decades within. Small places grew more slowly throughout this period. Larger towns, in contrast, typically grew faster, but only if they were in core Industrial Revolution Counties. In line with economic theory, towns grew disproportionately when agglomeration economies exceeded urban disamenities, allowing wage rises that induced workers to migrate to the town. This only occurred in places characterised by new, mechanised industries and mining. |
| Keywords: | Gibrat’s law; city-size distribution; industrial revolution |
| JEL: | N0 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:wpaper:62159&r=his |
| By: | Pierrick Dechaux (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS) |
| Abstract: | This article analyzes Katona's theory of expectations and compares it to that of Keynes and Hicks. It discusses the implicit and explicit debates on the introduction of psychology in economic theory. The aim of this paper is twofold: define Katona's thought and examine the impact of this work on the debate on expectations in macroeconomics. This paper shows that Katona is the only author, to our knowledge, who develops both an empirical and theoretical research program on expectations that borrows from the epistemology of Keynes. While rediscovering Katona's work, this paper contributes to highlight the forgotten methodology that initiated the construction of confidence (or sentiment) indexes. It also discusses the implicit and explicit debates on the introduction of psychology in economic theory. |
| Abstract: | Cet article étudie la théorie des anticipations de Katona et la compare à celle de Keynes et de Hicks. Il poursuit deux objectifs : définir la pensée de Katona et examiner son impact dans le débat sur les anticipations en macroéconomie. Ce papier met en évidence que Katona est le seul auteur, à notre connaissance, à développer un programme à la fois empirique et théorique sur les anticipations qui empreinte à l'épistémologie de Keynes. En s'intéressant aux travaux peu étudiés de Katona, cet article remet en avant la méthodologie à l'origine de la construction des indicateurs de confiance. Il discute aussi les débats implicites et explicites sur l'introduction de la psychologie en théorie économique. |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-01159206&r=his |
| By: | Nathaniel G. Hilger |
| Abstract: | Tax records indicate that intergenerational mobility (IM) has been stable for cohorts entering the labor market since the 1990s. I show that when using educational attainment as a proxy for adult income, stable IM is a new phenomenon: IM rose significantly for cohorts entering the labor market from 1940 to 1980. I measure IM directly in historical Census data for children still living with their parents at ages 22-25, and indirectly for other children using an imputation procedure that I validate in multiple data sets with parent-child links spanning the full 1940-2000 period. Post-war mobility gains were larger in the South and for blacks, and were driven by gains in high school rather than college enrollment. Controlling for region and year, states with higher IM have had lower income inequality, higher income levels, more educational inputs, higher minimum dropout ages, and lower teen birth rates. IM gains plausibly increased aggregate annual earnings growth by 0.125-0.25 percentage points over the 1940-1980 period. |
| JEL: | J1 J24 J62 N01 N3 O15 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21217&r=his |
| By: | David Encaoua (EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics, CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS) |
| Abstract: | This article is devoted to a perspective of the works of Jean Tirole on the topics mentioned by the Nobel Committee, namely the analysis of market power, its control mechanisms and the regulation of network activities and natural monopoly. It develops in three parts. The first explains why and how these works have contributed to a profound renewal of the Industrial Organization field by offering strong theoretical foundations. The second presents different contributions that advance our understanding of the Economics of Innovation. The third part refers to the works on the Economics of Regulation. In each part, the focus is on three aspects: i / the state of knowledge at the time of the work, ii / the analytical instruments and iii / the lessons that can be drawn. The article seeks to illustrate a common feature in many of these works, that of combining theoretical research leading to the knowledge's enlargement in various fields of economic analysis, and a choice of questions motivated by a strong concern to find solutions to some contemporary economic problems, based on a serious prior theoretical analysis. |
| Abstract: | Cet article est consacré à une mise en perspective des travaux réalisés par Jean Tirole sur les thèmes mentionnés par le communiqué du Nobel, à savoir l'analyse du pouvoir de marché, ses modalités de contrôle et la régulation des activités de réseaux et de monopole naturel. Il se développe en trois parties. La première explicite pourquoi et comment ces travaux ont participé à un profond renouveau de l'Economie Industrielle. La seconde présente les contributions participant à l'élaboration d'une véritable économie de l'innovation. La troisième partie se réfère aux travaux sur la régulation. Dans chacune de ces parties, l'accent est mis sur trois aspects : i/ l'état des connaissances au moment de ces travaux, ii/ les instruments d'analyse utilisés, et iii/ les enseignements que l'on peut en tirer. L'article cherche également à illustrer une caractéristique commune à plusieurs de ces travaux, celle de combiner, d'une part, une recherche théorique conduisant à un véritable renouvellement de nos connaissances dans différents champs de l'analyse économique, et d'autre part, un choix de questions motivées par une forte préoccupation à trouver des moyens de résolution de nombreux problèmes économiques contemporains, se fondant sur une sérieuse analyse théorique préalable. |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-01148507&r=his |
| By: | Francesco Sergi (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of the paper is to provide a methodological framework for a critical analysis of a specific class of macroeconomic models, namely the dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models (DSGE). We suggest some epistemological reflections to explore the underlying methodology and history of the DSGE models. To do this, we decided to rely on a literature review on the contributions about the notion of model and modelling in philosophy, history and sociology of sciences. Our approach tries to define, in an interdisciplinary way, a consistent methodology for dealing with a specific object. The review of this large literature has been organized around two complementary definitions of the object (“model” as concept, for the philosophy and history of sciences and “modelling” as a scientific practice, for the sociology of science) and around three fundamental questions (what is a model? how to build a model? what is the purpose of a model?). Starting from this review, we discuss the main elements which are consistent with an analysis of DSGE models, focusing in particular on intra- and interdisciplinary interactions, on the mechanisms of policy expertise and on the mediation between theories and data. |
| Abstract: | L'objectif du papier est de définir un cadre méthodologique pour une analyse critique d'une classe particulière de modèles macroéconomiques, les modèles d'équilibre général dynamique et stochastique (dynamic stochastic general equilibrium, DSGE). Il s'agit de mettre en évidence des pistes de réflexion épistémologique qui permettent de sonder la méthodologie et l'histoire sous-jacentes aux modèles DSGE. Pour atteindre cet objectif, nous nous appuyons sur une revue de littérature sur les modèles et la modélisation en philosophie, histoire et sociologie des sciences. Cette démarche qui essaie de déterminer, de façon interdisciplinaire une méthodologie apte à traiter un objet particulier. Le panorama du vaste corpus existant a été organisé autour de deux définitions complémentaires de l'objet (le « modèle » en tant que concept pour la philosophie et l'histoire des sciences, et la « modélisation » en tant que pratique scientifique pour la sociologie des sciences) et de trois problématiques structurantes (qu'est-ce qu'un modèle ? comment construit-on un modéle ? quelle est la fonction d'un modèle ?). A partir de cet état des lieux, nous discutons ensuite les axes de recherche pertinents pour une étude des DSGE, en se focalisant notamment sur l'interaction inter- et intradisciplinaire, sur les mécanismes de l'expertise et la logique de médiation entre théorie et données. |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-01109676&r=his |
| By: | Luca Zamparelli (Sapienza, University of Rome) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the evolution of wealth distribution between workers and capitalists. It shows that under competitive conditions, and when factors elasticity of substitution is high enough to ensure endogenous growth, capitalists' share of total wealth asymptotically tends to one if they have a higher propensity to save than workers. It is also shown that a tax on capital income shifts wealth distribution in workers' favor and makes any level of wealth concentration feasible. |
| Keywords: | Wealth distribution, elasticity of substitution, Pasinetti two-class equilibrium, Piketty |
| JEL: | E12 E13 E25 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:saq:wpaper:01/15&r=his |
| By: | Alexander De Juan (GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies) |
| Abstract: | Does extraction increase the likelihood of antistate violence in the early phases of state-building processes? While much research has focused on the impacts of war on state-building, the potential “war-making effects” of extraction have largely been neglected. The paper provides the first quantitative analysis of these effects in the context of colonial state-building. It focuses on the Maji Maji rebellion against the German colonial state (1905–1907), the most substantial rebellion in colonial Eastern Africa. Analyses based on a newly collected historical data set confirm the correlation between extraction and re-sistance. More importantly, they reveal that distinct strategies of extraction produced dis-tinct outcomes. While the intensification of extraction in state-held areas created substan-tial grievances among the population, it did not drive the rebellion. Rather, the empirical results indicate that the expansion of extractive authority threatened the political and economic interests of local elites and thus provoked effective resistance. This finding provides additional insights into the mechanisms driving the “extraction–coercion cycle” of state-building. |
| Keywords: | state-building, extraction, colonial, rebellion, Maji Maji, German East Africa |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gig:wpaper:271&r=his |
| By: | Zoran Stefanovic, Branislav Mitrovic (University of Niš, Faculty of Economics) |
| Abstract: | In the last four decades there is a renewed interest within the economic theory for the institutional structures. Numerous, multiple and often unpredictable effects of institutions on economic process are differently reflected among the leading schools of economic analysis. Certainly, in this sense, the greatest attention should be given to the stream of economic thought known as institutional economics. This heterogeneous research orientation today is already clearly differentiated on Veblenian and the new institutional economics. The paper will make, in the light of its recorded achievements and the subjects of interest of its main protagonists, a general insight into the new institutional economics. |
| Keywords: | neoclassical economics, institutions, new institutional economics, property rights, transaction costs, |
| JEL: | B31 B41 B52 D21 D86 E02 N01 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esb:casctr:2014-407&r=his |
| By: | William James Fear (Department of Organizational Psychology - Birkbeck College University of London); Ricardo Azambuja (MC - Management et Comportement - Grenoble École de Management (GEM)) |
| Abstract: | Patient Safety is a global institution in the field largely assumed to have emerged following the publication of To Err Is Human by the Institute of Medicine in 1999. In this paper we demonstrate that Patient Safety has been constructed as an institution separately in the practice of anaesthesia since 1954 and in hospitalised care since 1964. The publication of To Err was, in fact, only one of a number of later field configuring events. We use Bruner's (1991) theory of narrative to frame the institution building process which we term deliberative instauration in recognition of the historic literature on the subject. We further link the process of institution building to Vygotsky's theory of social mediation and the use of artefacts in relation to the object of intended action. We conclude that a narrative can be understood as both an artefact and a process used in the social construction of institutions by professional psychological collectives (in this case physicians). |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:gemptp:hal-00991744&r=his |
| By: | Bruce M. Owen (Stanford University) |
| Abstract: | Lawful political corruption is a costly feature of modern American politics, and a failure of Madisonian democracy. The propensity of political agents to self-service at the expense of the peoples’ well-being may not have changed much since 1787, but that propensity is now applied to a vast government that touches virtually every aspect of our lives. After examining conventional solutions to the problem of political corruption, this paper explores possible Madisonian remedies—that is, remedies invoking rivalrous political institutions. The paper con-cludes with a proposal for the addition of an "umpire" function to U.S. constitutional structure. Officials performing this function would have the power to veto legislation that significantly re-duces aggregate well-being or that produces regressive redistribution. Historical precedents, illustrative details, and impediments are discussed. |
| Keywords: | Madisonian democracy, political economy, constitutional law, corruption, Citizens United. |
| JEL: | H1 K1 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sip:dpaper:15-006&r=his |
| By: | Malleret , Véronique; De La Villarmois , Olivier |
| Abstract: | This article presents a summary of the Strategic Management Accounting (SMA) literature. In its first part, the article shows how authors define SMA (by its characteristics, its practices and methods) and compares SMA to Strategic Cost Management (SCM). The second part of the article discusses the empirical research work conducted in the SMA/SCM field and its main results. The article then questions the theoretical contribution of the SMA/SCM literature and its limitations before proposing a framework which relates the concepts of costs, value and price, and incorporates many of the practices usually connected to SMA. |
| Keywords: | Strategic Management Accounting; Strategic Cost Management; literature review |
| JEL: | M19 M40 |
| Date: | 2015–02–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ebg:heccah:1081&r=his |
| By: | Rajko Bukviæ, Radica Pavlovic (Geographical Institute “Jovan Cvijiæ”, Belgrade; Megatrend University Belgrade, Faculty of Business Studies, Pozarevac) |
| Abstract: | Paper considers the characteristics of contemporary dominant neoclascical economic theory and theie relation to economic development. It was showed that it, with presumptions of the same value and significance of all economic activities, and borderless power of selfregulated market, not have possibilities and force to explain factors of economic development, genesis and widening of poverty, as in one separate country as in international relations. As new paradigm, that should to change neoclascical, it is emphasized Other canon, that is on many centuries tradition and biological metaphors grounded. That dates back to the Renessaince, was proved through experience of the now developed economies, through the use of policies that in contemporary world are vorbidden for the underdeveloped coutries, while the developed that use. Contrary to neoclassical policies, realized in (neo)liberal politics of Washington consensus, that lead to deindustrialization, policies of the Other canon, on policies like Marshall plan grounded, lead contrary to industrialization as the condition to leave the underdeveloped countries from crisis and poverty. Change of neoclassical economic paradigm in this sense is the condition for the growth of the quality of macroeconomic education and should to ensure better understanding of economic problems and processes. |
| Keywords: | Neoclassical economics, Other canon, industrialization, neoliberalism, Washington consensus, Marshall plan |
| JEL: | E13 O10 P27 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esb:castrc:2014-301&r=his |