nep-his New Economics Papers
on Business, Economic and Financial History
Issue of 2017‒07‒09
nineteen papers chosen by
  1. How Vatican II influenced female enfranchisement: A story of rapid cultural change By Anna Maria Koukal
  2. Stocks for the Long Run: New Monthly Indices of British Equities, 1869-1929 By Richard S.Grossman
  3. The Short Rise and Long Fall of heterodox Economics in germany After the 1970s: Explorations in a Scientific Field of Power and Struggle. By Heise, Arne; Thieme, Sebastian
  4. Stock Volatility and the Great Depression By S. Gustavo S. Cortes; Marc D. Weidenmier
  5. Estimating Rationality in Economics: A History of Statistical Methods in Experimental Economics By Nicolas Vallois; Dorian Jullien
  6. Replication in Experimental Economics: A Historical and Quantitative Approach Focused on Public Good Game Experiments By Nicolas Vallois; Dorian Jullien
  7. Coalitional cohesion in technology policy: The case of the early solar cell industry in the United States By Ergen, Timur
  8. A replication of "Education and catch-up in the Industrial Revolution" (American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 2011) By Edwards, Jeremy S. S.
  9. Tony Atkinson and his Legacy By A Brandolini; Stephen P Jenkins; John Micklewright
  10. Um fordismo “atrofiado”?: considerações a respeito do modo de desenvolvimento do capitalismo no Brasil : retrospecto histórico e situação atual By José Artur dos Santos Ferreira; Cândido Guerra Ferreira
  11. Twenty Challenges for Innovation Studies By Ben R. Martin
  12. Populism and the Economics of Globalization By Rodrik, Dani
  13. War, Migration and the Origins of the Thai Sex Industry By Abel Brodeur; Warn N. Lekfuangfu; Yanos Zylberberg
  14. Historical waves in Hungarian water sector reform and implications for integration By Iván I. Szabó; Monica Garcia Quesada
  15. Modern capital theory and the concept of exploitation By von Weizsäcker, Carl Christian
  16. Morishima on Marx By von Weizsäcker, Carl Christian
  17. Reply to Mrs. Robinson, Morishima and Wolfstetter By von Weizsäcker, Carl Christian
  18. A further note on Rawls's theory By Harsanyi, John C.
  19. Constructing a Dictionary for Financial Stability By Ricardo Correa; Keshav Garud; Juan M. Londono; Nathan Mislang
  1. By: Anna Maria Koukal
    Abstract: The importance of culture for human behavior is well established in the economic literature. So far, most authors have emphasized the long persistence of cultural traits. In contrast, this paper deals with an important case of a rapid update of culturally rooted beliefs and behavior. Using a newly composed historical dataset (1919-1984), this paper provides evidence that the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) had a rapid effect on Catholics’ voting behavior pertaining to female enfranchisement in Switzerland. In various difference-in-differences settings, the Second Vatican Council turns out to increase the acceptance of women’s suffrage in Catholic municipalities, when compared to Protestant municipalities.
    Keywords: Catholic Church; Second Vatican Council; rapid cultural change; female enfranchisement
    JEL: N34 Z12 D72
    Date: 2017–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cra:wpaper:2017-07&r=his
  2. By: Richard S.Grossman (Department of Economics, Wesleyan University)
    Abstract: This paper presents new monthly capital gain, dividend yield, and total return indices for common equities quoted on British exchanges during 1869-1929. I construct indices for 25 domestic sectors, calculate capital asset pricing model betas for each sector, and construct a 30-stock blue chip index. I splice the new broad market index to Turner et al.’s (2009) pre-1870 index to create a century-long (1825-1929) monthly equity index. I use the new indices to examine the timing of British business cycles and compare the returns on home and foreign UK investment during 1870-1929.
    Keywords: London Stock Exchange, economic history, business cycles, stock market indices
    JEL: N23 N24 G10 G12 G15
    Date: 2017–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wes:weswpa:2017-004&r=his
  3. By: Heise, Arne; Thieme, Sebastian
    Abstract: In the context of ongoing criticisms of the lack of pluralism in economics, the present article aims to discuss the development of ‘heterodox’ economics since the 1970s. Following Lakatos’s concept of scientific research programs (srp), and concentrating on the situation in Germany, the article will discuss classifications of economics, and will specify the understanding of diversity in the light of ‘axiomatic variations’ of the economic mainstream. This will form the basis for the subsequent description of the development of heterodoxy in Germany, with special reference to the founding of new universities and the reform movements in the 1970s. It can be shown that the heterodox scene flourished in this period, but that this pluralization remained fragmented and short-lived; by the 1980s at the latest heterodoxy was again on its way to marginalization. The history of heterodoxy in Germany thus presents itself as an unequal ‘battle of the paradigms,’ and can only be told as the story of a failure.
    Keywords: Heterodox economics, pluralization, philosophy of science, sociology of science
    JEL: A14 B40 B50 N01 Z13
    Date: 2016
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:80022&r=his
  4. By: S. Gustavo S. Cortes; Marc D. Weidenmier
    Abstract: Stock volatility during the Great Depression was two to three times higher than any other period in American financial history. The period has been labelled a “volatility puzzle” because scholars have been unable to provide a convincing explanation for the dramatic rise in stock volatility (Schwert, 1989). We investigate the volatility puzzle during the period 1928-1938 using a new series of building permits, a forward-looking measure of economic activity. Our results suggest that the largest stock volatility spike in American history can be predicted by an increase in the volatility of building permit growth. Markets appear to have factored in a forthcoming economic disaster.
    JEL: G12 G17
    Date: 2017–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23554&r=his
  5. By: Nicolas Vallois (Université Picardie Jules Verne; CRIISEA); Dorian Jullien (Université Côte d'Azur; GREDEG CNRS)
    Abstract: Experimental economists increasingly apply econometric techniques to interpret their data, as suggested the emergence of "experimetrics" in the 2000's (Camerer, 2003; Houser, 2008; Moffatt, 2015). Yet statistics remains a minor topic in experimental economics' (EE) methodology. This article aims to study the historical roots of this present paradox. To do so, we analyze the use of statistical tools in EE from early economics experiments of the 1940's-1950's to the present days. Our narrative is based on qualitative analysis of published papers for the earliest periods and on bibliometric and quantitative approaches for the more recent time period. Our results reveal a significant change in EE' statistical methods, from purely descriptive methods to more sophisticated and standardized techniques. Statistics now plays a decisive role in the way EE estimates rationality, particularly in structural modeling approaches, but it is still considered as a non-methodological, because purely technical, matter. Our historical analysis shows that this technical conception was the result of a long-run evolution of research tactics in EE, that notably allowed experimental economists to escape from psychologist's more re exive culture toward statistics.
    Keywords: Experimental Economics, Statistics, Econometrics, History of Economic Thought, Methodology
    JEL: B20 C83 A14 C90
    Date: 2017–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gre:wpaper:2017-20&r=his
  6. By: Nicolas Vallois (Université Picardie Jules Verne; CRIISEA); Dorian Jullien (Université Côte d'Azur; GREDEG CNRS)
    Abstract: We propose a historical perspective on replication in experimental economics focused on public good games. Our intended contribution is twofold: in terms of method and in terms of object. Methodologically, we blend traditional qualitative history of economics with a less traditional quantitative approach using basic econometric tools to detect unnoticed historical patterns of replication. In terms of our object, we highlight a type of replication that we call "baseline replication", which is not present in explicit methodological discussions, yet central in the specificity of experimental economics regarding replication in economics.
    Keywords: Experimental Economics, Replication, History of Economic Thought, Methodology, Public Good Experiments
    JEL: B20 C83 A14 C90
    Date: 2017–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gre:wpaper:2017-21&r=his
  7. By: Ergen, Timur
    Abstract: The paper traces the rise and decline of solar cell commercialization efforts during the 1970s and early 1980s in the United States. It shows how technology policies for photovoltaic appliances gained and lost support in a time of increasing uncertainty about future resource supplies and the future of energy provision. Contrary to conventional explanations of the long history of failures to commercialize renewable energy technologies that emphasize path dependencies around established energy technologies, this paper explains the rise and decline of early solar cell policies from the perspective of internal sectoral developments. It demonstrates that cohesion among political economic supporters was critical for public perceptions of the intermediary success of the effort, to continuous investment by industry, and to the maintenance of political support. The paper suggests that support for new industries and technologies is dependent on sectoral order among supporting groups over time. The case of the early photovoltaics policies illustrates how the failure to keep groups unified and committed undermined the implementation of the technology policies, weakened the credibility of the developmental effort, and ultimately led to a decline in political support. The paper contributes to recent debates about the conditions of successful industrial and technology policies by demonstrating that network failures have an important political dimension if ruptures of sectoral cooperation feed back on state support for the respective industry or technology.
    Keywords: technology policy,renewable energy,institutional change,governance,innovation,Technologiepolitik,erneuerbare Energien,institutioneller Wandel,Governance,Innovation
    Date: 2017
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:mpifgd:177&r=his
  8. By: Edwards, Jeremy S. S.
    Abstract: Although European economic history provides essentially no support for the view that education of the general population has a positive causal effect on economic growth, a recent paper by Becker, Hornung and Woessmann (Education and catch-up in the Industrial Revolution, 2011) claims that such education had a significant impact on Prussian industrialisation. The author shows that the instrumental variable they use to identify the causal effect of education is correlated with variables that influenced industrialisation but were omitted from their regression models. Once this specification error is corrected, the evidence shows that education of the general population had, if anything, a negative causal impact on industrialisation in Prussia.
    Keywords: education,industrialization,Prussia,regional effects,invalid instrument
    JEL: I25 N13 N63 O14
    Date: 2017
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwedp:201730&r=his
  9. By: A Brandolini; Stephen P Jenkins; John Micklewright
    Abstract: Tony Atkinson is universally celebrated for his outstanding contributions to the measurement and analysis of inequality, but he never saw the study of inequality as a separate branch of economics. He was an economist in the classical sense, rejecting any sub-field labelling of his interests and expertise, and he made contributions right across economics. His death on 1 January 2017 deprived the world of both an intellectual giant and a deeply committed public servant in the broadest sense of the term. This collective tribute highlights the range, depth and importance of Tony's enormous legacy, the product of over fifty years' work.
    Keywords: Atkinson
    Date: 2017–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:stippp:32&r=his
  10. By: José Artur dos Santos Ferreira (ICSA-UFOP); Cândido Guerra Ferreira (Cedeplar-UFMG)
    Abstract: This paper discusses the Brazilian industrialization process (1930-1980). Could we call the Brazilian experience as a Fordism model of development ? In a what sense? Further on highlights the institutional diversity and the national trajectories of development (the varieties of capitalism) and we discuss the Brazilian case: the crisis of the Brazilian development model and the new possibilities. We must examine these ideas in the context of contemporary global crisis and in the background of contradictory and historic sides of the institutional change. Then this paper examines the consequences of social struggles and democratization of the country over social rights and the political economy. We also examine the consequences of the globalization and social development over the Brazilian ways.
    Keywords: Fordism, institutional change, Brazil, regulation school, social development.
    JEL: B52 E02 O11
    Date: 2017–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdp:texdis:td559&r=his
  11. By: Ben R. Martin
    Abstract: With the field of innovation studies now half a century old, the occasion has been marked by several studies looking back to identify the main advances made over its lifetime. Starting from a list of 20 advances over the field's history, this discussion paper sets out 20 challenges for coming decades. The intention is to prompt a debate within the innovation studies community on what are, or should be, the key challenges for us to take up, and more generally on what sort of field we aspire to be. It is argued that the empirical focus of our studies has failed to keep pace with the fast changing world and economy, especially the shift from manufacturing to services and the increasingly urgent need for sustainability. Moreover, the very way we conceptualise, define, operationalise and analyse 'innovation' seems somewhat rooted in the past, leaving us less able to grapple with other less visible or 'dark' forms of innovation.
    Keywords: innovation studies; science policy; research challenges; dark innovation
    JEL: O30 O31 O32 O38 Q55
    Date: 2015–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbr:cbrwps:wp475&r=his
  12. By: Rodrik, Dani
    Abstract: Populism may seem like it has come out of nowhere, but it has been on the rise for a while. I argue that economic history and economic theory both provide ample grounds for anticipating that advanced stages of economic globalization would produce a political backlash. While the backlash may have been predictable, the specific form it took was less so. I distinguish between left-wing and right-wing variants of populism, which differ with respect to the societal cleavages that populist politicians highlight. The first has been predominant in Latin America, and the second in Europe. I argue that these different reactions are related to the relative salience of different types of globalization shocks.
    Keywords: Globalization; populism
    JEL: G02
    Date: 2017–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12119&r=his
  13. By: Abel Brodeur; Warn N. Lekfuangfu; Yanos Zylberberg
    Abstract: This paper analyzes the determinants behind the spatial distribution of the sex industry in Thailand. We relate the development of the sex industry to an early temporary demand shock, i.e., U.S. military presence during the Vietnam War. Comparing the surroundings of Thai military bases used by the U.S. army to districts close to unused Thai bases, we find that there are currently 5 times more commercial sex workers in districts near former U.S. bases. The development of the sex industry is also explained by a high price elasticity of supply due to female migration from regions affected by an agricultural crisis. We then quantify the contribution of the sex industry's geographic distribution on the HIV outbreak. We show that the clustering of sex workers, because of non-linearities in HIV propagation, induces high transmission rates and thus more infections. Last, we conclude by documenting benefits to concentration, e.g., when designing infection control.
    Keywords: persistence, industry location, sex industry, HIV/AIDS
    JEL: O17 O18 N15 J46 J47 I28
    Date: 2017–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cch:wpaper:170007&r=his
  14. By: Iván I. Szabó; Monica Garcia Quesada
    Date: 2017–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulb:ulbeco:2013/253271&r=his
  15. By: von Weizsäcker, Carl Christian (Center for Mathematical Economics, Bielefeld University)
    Date: 2017–04–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bie:wpaper:2&r=his
  16. By: von Weizsäcker, Carl Christian (Center for Mathematical Economics, Bielefeld University)
    Date: 2017–04–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bie:wpaper:7&r=his
  17. By: von Weizsäcker, Carl Christian (Center for Mathematical Economics, Bielefeld University)
    Date: 2017–04–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bie:wpaper:13&r=his
  18. By: Harsanyi, John C. (Center for Mathematical Economics, Bielefeld University)
    Date: 2017–04–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bie:wpaper:22&r=his
  19. By: Ricardo Correa; Keshav Garud; Juan M. Londono; Nathan Mislang
    Abstract: In this note, we explain in detail how we made word-level choices in our dictionary. In the note, we also consolidate our lessons from this process into a framework for thinking about dictionary construction.
    Date: 2017–06–28
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgin:2017-06-28&r=his
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