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on Business, Economic and Financial History |
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Issue of 2017‒12‒11
29 papers chosen by |
| By: | Williamson, Jeffrey G |
| Abstract: | In spite of persistent debates about income inequality and pro-poor policy in the Philippines, its history over the past century has been ignored, at least by economists. This is surprising given that the Philippines already had its first Census in 1903, long before its neighbors, augmented by other relevant evidence embedded in official documents generated by the American insular government. It is also surprising given that we know that income distributions change only very slowly and must be examined over the long run to identify its drivers. This essay reviews the (thin) historical evidence and proposes explanations. There is no Kuznets Curve, and no Marxian, Pikettian or other grand endogenous inequality theory at work, but there are dramatic episodes of change. It appears that there was an inequality rise up to World War 1, a fall between the World Wars, a rise to high levels by the 1950s, and an almost certain rise up to the end of the century which, due to mismeasurement, looks instead like stasis . We need to collect better evidence to confirm these narratives and to assess competing hypotheses. |
| Keywords: | inequality; the Philippines; twentieth century |
| JEL: | D30 N15 N35 O15 O53 |
| Date: | 2017–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12481&r=his |
| By: | Carlo Cristiano; Paolo Paesani |
| Abstract: | Moving from conflicting opinions regarding the relevance of A.W. Phillips’ contribution, and of the Phillips curve in particular, this paper provides a contextual analysis in which Phillips (1958) is seen as part of a wider research effort, aimed at exploring how to reconcile price stability with levels of unemployment that were higher than current rates but politically acceptable. We label this proposal ‘reverse trade-off’, to mark its distance from standard textbook accounts, which regard the Phillips curve as justifying inflationary Keynesian policies in the 1960s and 1970s. Moreover, our reconstruction suggests that what really mattered with Phillips (1958) was that it provided a quantitative estimate of the unique (and low) level of the unemployment rate which was compatible with price stability. However, even though the British Treasury and the LSE colleague of Phillips F. Paish conducted independent researches along the lines proposed by Phillips, the curve met with early opposition from some prominent British policy and academic circles. At Cambridge, Kahn and Kaldor in particular attacked the neoclassical underpinnings as well as the policy implications of the curve. Parallel to this, Lipsey (1960), while contributing to popularize the Phillips hypothesis within the broad scientific community, had the opposite effect in the restricted academic and top level policy circles within which Phillips’ curve article was born and moved its first steps. First, Lipsey’s empirical results and rightly cautious attitude weakened the case for bringing the unemployment rate up at the level consistent with price stability. Second, Lipsey (1960) weakened also the belief in the possibility itself of identifying the unique unemployment rate consistent with price stability. |
| Keywords: | Phillips curve, unemployment, inflation, stabilization |
| JEL: | B22 E24 E31 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hpo:wpaper:2_2017&r=his |
| By: | Pascal Glémain |
| Abstract: | Direct heir of the Italian Mount of piety, the “Credit Municipal” or French pawnshop model was born in Nantes in 1813, a metropole which are located in the west part of France. At this period of time, it was public organization of credit with a social mission: to help people who are in financial difficulty (excluded from access to banking currency). In 1955, the “Credit Municipal” became establishment of Public Welfare, with legal personality and financial autonomy under the governance of the City of Nantes. Credit Institution like “cooperative banks” but with a general purpose since 1984, the “Credit Municipal” is located today in the social and solidarity economy (SSE). With this research paper, we want to demonstrate the historical place of the French pawnshops in the microcredit devises landscape. Indeed, since “social banking” is not yet used as a category in official French banking system, we lack an authoritative definition because, we seem to be without social banking model through the French banking system history. But, we try to show that it’s not the case. Indeed, French pawnshops, from Middle-Age to nowadays, have always experimented “social banking devises” in order to straight against usury practices and banking exclusion. Since the beginning of the 19th Century, the pawnshops have been an important element of the French model of social microcredit both through their traditional “pawn loans” system and through their “stability loan” devise. |
| Keywords: | France; Pawnshop; social banking; social microcredit; pawn loans; stability loan devise; beneficiary; social movements; capitalism; solidarism; social enterprise; banking exclusion |
| JEL: | G21 |
| Date: | 2017–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sol:wpaper:2013/261717&r=his |
| By: | Franck, Raphael (Hebrew University of Jerusalem); Michalopoulos, Stelios (Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis) |
| Abstract: | During the French Revolution, more than 100,000 individuals, predominantly supporters of the Old Regime, fled France. As a result, some areas experienced a significant change in the composition of the local elites whereas in others the pre-revolutionary social structure remained virtually intact. In this study, we trace the consequences of the émigrés flight on economic performance at the local level. We instrument emigration intensity with local temperature shocks during an inflection point of the Revolution, the summer of 1792, marked by the abolition of the constitutional monarchy and bouts of local violence. Our findings suggest that émigrés have a non monotonic effect on comparative development. During the 19th century, there is a significant negative impact on income per capita, which becomes positive from the second half of the 20th century onward. This pattern can be partially attributed to the reduction in the share of the landed elites in high-emigration regions. We show that the resulting fragmentation of agricultural holdings reduced labor productivity, depressing overall income levels in the short run; however, it facilitated the rise in human capital investments, eventually leading to a reversal in the pattern of regional comparative development. |
| Keywords: | Revolution; Elites; Climate shocks; France; Development |
| JEL: | N23 N24 |
| Date: | 2017–09–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedmoi:0002&r=his |
| By: | Lindmark, Magnus (CERE and the Department of Geography and Economic History); Olsson Spjut, Fredrik (the Department of Geography and Economic History) |
| Abstract: | This article discusses the transformation from an organic to a mineral energy system from a Swedish historical perspective. Main arguments are that there was a dynamic interaction between the two systems during the Swedish industrialization process. For one, a diffusion of the mineral energy system contributed to opening previously inaccessible organic resources in the forest of northern Sweden. Secondly, the development of the pulp- and paper industry contributed to the switch from charcoal to coke in the iron industry. Thirdly, the development of hydropower, itself an organic source of energy, further contributed to the emergence of a mixed energy system. One can therefore see the Swedish transition from an organic to a mineral energy system as a shift from a traditional organic energy system to an industrialized organic energy system, which is to say an organic energy system which for its operation was depending on technologies and organizational structures of the mineral energy system. |
| Keywords: | Organic energy system; energy history; Sweden; forest history; firewood |
| JEL: | N14 N73 |
| Date: | 2017–10–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:slucer:2017_006&r=his |
| By: | Cristián Larroulet Vignau (School of Business and Economics, Universidad del Desarrollo) |
| Abstract: | This article describes the features of Latin American populism, particularly those that characterised this phenomenon in Chile in the twentieth century, under the governments of Carlos Ibáñez del Campo (first term) and Salvador Allende, and in the twenty-first century, during part of the second term of President Michelle Bachelet, addressing the effects of her reforms. The article explains why the period between 1990 and 2014 is considered to have been exempt from populism, and in turn, to have been a historical period in which Chile concurrently faced high economic growth rates, poverty reduction, human development, and social peace |
| Keywords: | Populism, Latin America, Chile, institutions, economy |
| JEL: | N26 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dsr:wpaper:43&r=his |
| By: | Hauner, Thomas; Milanovic, Branko; Naidu, Suresh |
| Abstract: | We present an empirical restatement of the classical economic theory of imperialism and the origins of World War I. Using recent data, we show 1) inequality was at historical highs in all the advanced belligerent countries at the turn of the century, 2) rich wealth holders invested more of their assets abroad, 3) risk-adjusted foreign returns were higher than risk-adjusted domestic returns, 4) establishing direct political control decreased the riskiness of foreign assets, 5) increased inequality was associated with higher share of foreign assets in GDP, and 6) increased share of foreign assets was correlated with higher levels of military mobilization. Together, these facts suggest that the classic theory of imperialism may have some empirical support. |
| Keywords: | Inequality, foreign investments, imperialism |
| JEL: | N2 N24 N3 N34 N4 N43 |
| Date: | 2017–11–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:83068&r=his |
| By: | Boberg-Fazlic, Nina (University of Southern Denmark); Ivets, Maryna (University of Duisburg-Essen); Karlsson, Martin (University of Duisburg-Essen); Nilsson, Therese (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effect of the 1918–19 influenza pandemic on fertility using a historical dataset from Sweden. Our results suggest an immediate reduction in fertility driven by morbidity, and additional behavioral effects driven by mortality. We find some evidence of community rebuilding and replacement fertility, but the net long-term effect is fertility reduction. In districts highly affected by the flu there is also an improvement in parental quality: we observe a relative increase in births to married women and better-off city dwellers. Our findings help understand the link between mortality and fertility, one of the central relations in demography, and show that several factors – including disruptions to marriage and labor markets – contribute to fertility reduction in the long term. Our results are consistent with studies that find a positive fertility response following natural disasters, but with high-quality historical data we show that this effect is short-lived. |
| Keywords: | 1918–19 influenza pandemic; Influenza and pneumonia mortality; Fertility; Difference-in-Differences |
| JEL: | I12 J11 J13 |
| Date: | 2017–08–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1179&r=his |
| By: | Eleonora Sanfilippo |
| Abstract: | In the last few years Keynes’s activity as an investor has attracted attention in the specialized literature. Very recently his investments at Wall Street, in particular – both on his own account (Cristiano, Marcuzzo, Sanfilippo 2017) and on behalf of King’s College (Chambers and Kabiri 2016) – have been analyzed, and the evident connection with his theoretical analysis of the functioning of the financial markets contained in Chapter 12 of the General Theory has been duly stressed. The aim of this paper is to make detailed comparison of Keynes’s investment choices and strategies in the US stock market when he traded for himself and for King’s. As might be expected, there are similarities but also significant differences, well worth investigating. As far as the differences are concerned, one of the most striking is to be seen in his attitude when, after a period of bull market in 1936, he had to face the 1937 burst of the speculative bubble and subsequent recession. Detailed analysis of his behavior reveals that this event took him by surprise but his reaction differed with regard to his personal investments and the King’s investments. The prevalence of a ‘buy and hold’ strategy which, according to Chambers and Kabiri (2016), seemed to characterize his behavior in general when investing for King’s, was not always the typical choice when the investments were undertaken on his own account. |
| Keywords: | Keynes, investment, King’s College, Wall Street, 1937 recession |
| JEL: | B26 B31 G11 N22 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hpo:wpaper:4_2017&r=his |
| By: | Bryan Stuart (George Washington University); Evan Taylor (University of Chicago) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effects of birth town migration networks on location decisions. We study over one million long-run location decisions made during two landmark migration episodes by African Americans from the U.S. South and whites from the Great Plains. We develop a new method to estimate the strength of migration networks for each receiving and sending location. Our estimates imply that when one randomly chosen African American moves from a birth town to a destination county, then 1.9 additional black migrants make the same move on average. For white migrants from the Great Plains, the average is only 0.4. Networks were particularly important in connecting black migrants with attractive employment opportunities and played a larger role in less costly moves. |
| Keywords: | migration networks, location decisions, social interactions, Great Migration |
| JEL: | J61 N32 O15 R23 Z13 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gwi:wpaper:2017-26&r=his |
| By: | Cattan, Sarah (Institute for Fiscal Studies, London,); Kamhofer, Daniel A. (Paderborn University); Karlsson, Martin (CINCH); Nilsson, Therese (Lund University) |
| Abstract: | Instructional time is seen as an important determinant of school performance, but little is known about the effects of student absence. Combining historical records and administrative data for Swedish individuals born in the 1930s, we examine the impacts of absence in elementary school on short-term academic performance and long-term socio-economic outcomes. Our siblings and individual fixed effects estimates suggest absence has a moderate adverse effect on academic performance. The detrimental effect fades out over time. While absence negatively correlates with final education, income and longevity, we only find robust evidence that it lowers the probability of employment at age 25–30. |
| Keywords: | Absence in school; Educational performance; Long-term effects; Register data |
| JEL: | C23 I14 I21 |
| Date: | 2017–11–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1188&r=his |
| By: | Jacques Melitz |
| Abstract: | The paper takes issue with the mainstream economic analysis of the enormous flow of silver into China in 1550-1820. First, I challenge the view that arbitrage between gold and silver in European trade with China was important except for one twenty-year spell. Next, I argue that had China imported gold, its history would have been much the same. I also dispute the idea that the persistence of the silver inflows from 1550 to 1820 implies any persistent disequilibrium, and I maintain that economic theory can easily accommodate the view that the inflow of silver into China sponsored growth in China. |
| Keywords: | Silver Flows into China 1550-1820;Silver/Gold Exchange Rates;Transaction Costs in International Trade |
| JEL: | N1 N15 N25 F36 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cii:cepidt:2017-19&r=his |
| By: | João Antonio de Paula (Department of Economics and Cedeplar at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais); Leonardo Gomes de Deus (Department of Economics and Cedeplar at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais); Hugo Eduardo da Gama Cerqueira (Department of Economics and Cedeplar at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais); Eduardo da Motta e Albuquerque (Department of Economics and Cedeplar at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates Marx's understanding of the connections between technological revolutions and the centre-periphery divide. Marx's initial elaboration on those topics may be helpful for a contemporary agenda to investigate how global capitalism has been shaped and reshaped by movements in this structural divide between a dynamic centre and a changing periphery. Technological revolutions have been shaping the structure of that divide, its nature and structure. Therefore, Marx's elaboration may be fruitful for both the understanding of the origin and the dynamics of technological revolutions and their impact upon the divide centre-periphery. |
| Keywords: | technological revolutions, centre-periphery, metamorphoses of capitalism, Marx |
| JEL: | B14 B31 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdp:texdis:td570&r=his |
| By: | Victoria Barnes (Georgetown University Law Center); Lucy Newton (Henley Business School, University of Reading); |
| Abstract: | Following the passage of the 1826 Act, the joint-stock bank entered the English banking system and its dominance over the private bank is often thought to be a result of laissez-faire political ideology. This article shows that banking and monetary policy in the nineteenth century was far from liberal or permissive as regulators legislated with a clear idea of the intended outcomes of their actions. Yet, as policy-makers were often unsuccessful in their attempts to introduce change in the banking system, they became interventionist in an effort to rectify their mistakes. By placing regulation in its political context, we show that the emergence of a set of banks with shareholders, sleeping partners and investors as owners was both unexpected and unintentional. It reveals their subsequent attempt to repeal the 1826 Act and dissolve the offending companies through more legislation. |
| Keywords: | Banks, nineteenth century, policy-making, legislation |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rdg:ibhxdp:ibh-dp2016-01&r=his |
| By: | Martha J. Bailey; Olga Malkova; Zoë M. McLaren |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the relationship between parents’ access to family planning and the economic resources of their children. Using the county-level introduction of U.S. family planning programs between 1964 and 1973, we find that children born after programs began had 2.8% higher household incomes. They were also 7% less likely to live in poverty and 12% less likely to live in households receiving public assistance. After accounting for selection, the direct effects of family planning programs on parents’ incomes account for roughly two thirds of these gains. |
| JEL: | I3 J13 J18 |
| Date: | 2017–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23971&r=his |
| By: | Frank Cowell; Dirk Van de gaer |
| Abstract: | Using a simple model of family decision making we examine the processes by which the wealth distribution changes over the generations, focusing in particular on the division of fortunes through inheritance and the union of fortunes through marriage. We show that the equilibrium wealth distribution can be characterized in a simple way for a variety of inheritance rules and marriage patterns. The shape of the distribution is principally determined by the size distribution of families. We show how changes in fertility, inheritance rules and inheritance taxation a ect long-run inequality. |
| Keywords: | wealth distribution, inheritance, inheritance taxation |
| JEL: | D31 D63 |
| Date: | 2017–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:stippp:34&r=his |
| By: | Laura A. Harvey; Jochen O. Mierau; James Rockey |
| Abstract: | A society in which everybody is the same at the same stage of the life-cycle will exhibit substantial income and wealth inequality. We use this idea to empirically quantify natural inequality – the share of observed inequality attributable to life-cycle profiles of income and wealth. We document that recent increases in inequality in the United States and other developed countries are both larger than observed rates would suggest, and represent a distinct change from the period 1960-1980. Extrapolating our measures forward suggests that natural inequalities will fluctuate over the next 20 years before settling to a new higher level. |
| Keywords: | Income Inequality, Wealth Inequality, Demographic Structure |
| JEL: | D31 J10 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lis:lwswps:26&r=his |
| By: | Leledakis, George; Mamatzakis, Emmanuel; Pirgiotakis, Manos; Travlos, Nikolaos |
| Abstract: | We extend the U.S. bank M&As literature by examining announcement returns for acquisitions of both listed and unlisted targets by U.S. banking firms for a long period of time from the eighties till to date. Over these decades there have been implemented several regulation changes, notably the Dodd-Frank Act that would be of interest to examine whether they have any impact, and if indeed they have to which direction, on value creation in M&As in the U.S. banking industry. Contrary to the conventional wisdom that bidding banks lose upon the announcement of a merger, we find positive abnormal returns for these firms that choose to acquire privately-held targets. Further, returns for acquirers in private offers do not depend on the method of payment, legislative changes, size, or geographical scope. However, we find that the use of a financial advisor on the part of the bidder can better explain the variation in abnormal returns for such offers. Our results are not influenced by any unobserved bidder-specific component or sample selection issues. |
| Keywords: | Mergers and Acquisitions; Regulations, Banks; Value Creation |
| JEL: | G2 G3 G34 |
| Date: | 2017–11–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:82977&r=his |
| By: | Kurrild-Klitgaard, Peter |
| Abstract: | Three notes on Gordon Tullock (1922-2014), prepared for Liberty Fund’s on-line conversation on his work and contributions. |
| Keywords: | Gordon Tullock; public choi |
| JEL: | B2 B25 B31 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:83115&r=his |
| By: | Angela Ambrosino |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses institutional change and Veblen’s work (1907, 1914, 1919) under the perspective of cognitive economics. Particularly it focuses on two interesting issues of Veblen’s theory of economic change: 1. in Veblen’s view habits are both mental habits and behavioral habits and they play a twofold role in economic change because they are particularly relevant both as elements of propensity, and as forces resisting to change. 2 Veblen gives an exhaustive definition of instincts and habits but he does not completely explain the cognitive processes that bring changes and evolution in social habits. He develops an economic theory at the base of which there is an evolutionary view of reality and a deep awareness of the role of the human mind within the decision-making processes of choice. This paper is aimed at analyzing both issues using the interpretive tools offered by psychology and discussing the role of agents psychological propensity toward conformity and independence in explaining institutional change. The central idea is that if we better encompass the theory of conformity and independence developed in psychology (starting from Asch, 1952) in the analysis of economic institutions, we can better explain institutional change. Conformity is the effect of the pressure of social group on agents’ behavior. That concept contributes to explain resistance to change. On the other hand, psychology shows that agents are also subject to mechanisms of independence. These are key elements in explaining behavioral change. The analysis of Veblen’s instinct-habit concept under conformity-independence perspective shows interesting connections between Veblen and Hayek’s ideas of economic change. Hayek’s concept of evolution based on psychological and neurobiological aspect, in fact, is a contribution of great significance both in explaining the dual role of habits in institutional change and in understanding individual mechanisms that bring changes in social habits. |
| Keywords: | Institutional change, old institutional economics, cognitive economics, Veblen, Hayek |
| JEL: | B15 B20 B25 B52 B53 |
| Date: | 2017–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hpo:wpaper:1_2017&r=his |
| By: | Bruno Pellegrino; Luigi Zingales |
| Abstract: | We try to explain why Italy’s labor productivity stopped growing in the mid-1990s. We find no evidence that this slowdown is due to trade dynamics, Italy’s inefficient governmental apparatus, or excessively protective labor regulations. By contrast, the data suggest that Italy’s slowdown was more likely caused by the failure of its firms to take full advantage of the ICT revolution. While many institutional features can account for this failure, a prominent one is the lack of meritocracy in the selection and rewarding of managers. Familyism and cronyism are the ultimate causes of the Italian disease. |
| JEL: | D24 E22 M14 M15 |
| Date: | 2017–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23964&r=his |
| By: | Dondena; CASE; IEB; PWC |
| Abstract: | This study provides a comprehensive review of the theoretical and empirical economic literature on tax and entrepreneurship, taking also into account a number of open, tax-related questions raised by the changing nature of entrepreneurship, symbolised by the growing importance of the collaborative economy |
| Keywords: | taxation, innovation, digital, entrepreneurship, collaborative economy |
| JEL: | H24 H25 L86 O32 O33 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tax:taxpap:0070&r=his |
| By: | John Fitzgerald (Department of Economics, Trinity College Dublin); Seán Kenny (Lund University) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we discuss the unresolved apportionment of national debt when Ireland exited the UK in 1922. Using archival sources and contemporary accounts, we estimate that the British claim on Ireland in 1925 amounted to between 80 and 100 per cent of GNP at a time when the political stability of Ireland was already fragile. We describe the process of how this contingent liability, arising from the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, was ultimately waived in a Financial Agreement in 1925 at the expense of an unchanged border with Northern Ireland. The Irish government also sought, but failed, to secure protection against discrimination for Catholics in Northern Ireland as part of the agreement. While for the Irish Government, this settlement may have represented a political failure, the economic outcome of the agreement transformed the economic position of the new Irish State from one of potential insolvency into one of viability. |
| Keywords: | Contingent liability, public debt, secession, independence, Ireland, United Kingdom, Financial Agreement, political economy, border. |
| JEL: | E62 F50 H60 H77 N00 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tcd:tcduee:tep2117&r=his |
| By: | Peter M Scott (Henley Business School, University of Reading); James T Walker (Henley Business School, University of Reading); |
| Abstract: | We examine the impacts of British government ‘stop-go’ policy on domestic sales of consumer durables over 1952 – 1965, via hire purchase restrictions and punitive Purchase Tax rates. Our analysis includes a general review of contemporary evidence regarding the impacts of these measures, a more detailed study of the television sector, and time-series econometric analysis for both televisions and a representative high-ticket labour-saving consumer durable –washing machines. We find that the restrictions had devastating impacts on Britain’s consumer durables industries, preventing firms from fully exploiting economies of scale, reducing output growth and international competitiveness, and eroding industrial relations. Government officials were aware of these problems, but considered them a price worth paying to facilitate moves towards sterling convertibility and the re-establishment of the City as a leading financial and trading centre. |
| JEL: | H24 H32 N64 L68 G20 O24 N24 |
| Date: | 2016–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rdg:ibhxdp:ibh-dp2016-02&r=his |
| By: | Martin Kolk; Kieron J. Barclay (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany) |
| Abstract: | We examine the relationship between cognitive ability and childbearing patterns in contemporary Sweden using administrative register data. The topic has a long history in the social sciences and has been the topic of a large number of studies, many arguing for a negative gradient between intelligence and fertility. We link fertility histories to military conscription tests with intelligences scores for all Swedish born men born 1951 to 1967. We find an overall positive relationship between intelligence scores and fertility and that is consistent across our cohorts. The relationship is most pronounced for transition to a first child, and that men with the lowest categories of IQ-scores have the fewest children. Using fixed effects models we additionally control for all factors that are shared across siblings, and after such adjustments we find a stronger positive relationship between IQ and fertility. Furthermore, we find a positive gradient within groups of different lengths of education. Compositional differences of this kind are therefore not responsible for the positive gradient we observe - instead the relationship is even stronger after controlling for both educational careers and parental background factors. In our models where we compare brothers to one another we find that relative to men with IQ 100, the group with the lowest category of cognitive ability have 0.58 fewer children, and men with the highest category have 0.14 more children. |
| Keywords: | Sweden, fertility, intelligence, men, military service |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2017-020&r=his |
| By: | FitzGerald, John (Trinity College, Dublin); Kenny, Seán (Department of Economic History, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we discuss the unresolved apportionment of national debt when Ireland exited the UK in 1922. Using archival sources and contemporary accounts, we estimate that the British claim on Ireland in 1925 amounted to between 80 and 100 per cent of GNP at a time when the political stability of Ireland was already fragile. We describe the process of how this contingent liability, arising from the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, was ultimately waived in a Financial Agreement in 1925 at the expense of an unchanged border with Northern Ireland. The Irish government also sought, but failed, to secure protection against discrimination for Catholics in Northern Ireland as part of the agreement. While for the Irish Government, this settlement may have represented a political failure, the economic outcome of the agreement transformed the economic position of the new Irish State from one of potential insolvency into one of viability. |
| Keywords: | contingent liability; public debt; secession; independence; Ireland; United Kingdom; Financial Agreement; political economy; border |
| JEL: | E62 F50 H60 H77 N00 |
| Date: | 2017–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:luekhi:0166&r=his |
| By: | Marcel Ausloos |
| Abstract: | This short note is intended as a "Letter to the Editor" Perspective in order that it serves as a contribution, in view of reaching the physics community caring about rare events and scaling laws and unexpected findings, on a domain of wide interest: sport and money. It is apparent from the data reported and discussed below that the scarcity of such data does not allow to recommend a complex elaboration of an agent based model, - at this time. In some sense, this also means that much data on sport activities is not necessarily given in terms of physics prone materials, but it could be, and would then attract much attention. Nevertheless the findings tie the data to well known scaling laws and physics processes. It is found that a simple scaling law describes the gains of teams in recent bicycle races, like the Tour de France. An analogous case, ranking teams in Formula 1 races, is shown in an Appendix |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1712.00130&r=his |
| By: | Nuno Palma |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:man:sespap:1711&r=his |
| By: | Francisco J. Medina-Albaladejo (Universitat de València, València, Spain); Jordi Planas (Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain) |
| Abstract: | Cooperative wineries emerged with a double objective: on the one hand, the common production ofwine, to reduce production costs and at the same time to increase the quality of the product; on the other hand, the common sale of wine, with a reduction of intermediaries and an improvement of the position of winegrowers in the marketing process. Both objectives had to lead to a higher remuneration for the product and, consequently, for producers’ income. In the wine sector producers were mainly small family farmers who faced a context of tendential fall in wine prices and, consequently, a decrease in their income. If the advantages of winemaking in common seem obvious, success in the second objective seems more doubtful. In this article we want to analyze the marketing of wine in Spain through the cooperative wineries: What was their role in the wine trade? What types of sales did they adopt and why? How did they adapt to changes in the wine consumption patterns? |
| Keywords: | Cooperative Wineries, Wine Trade, Twentieth Century, Spain |
| JEL: | L66 N84 Q13 |
| Date: | 2017–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ahe:dtaehe:1707&r=his |